Evacuation slides are used by the airlines in the event of an emergency. Airlines require the evacuation slide to deploy in 6 seconds in temperatures ranging from −65 to 160 degrees F., and to unfurl in winds of up to 28 miles per hour. The Goodrich Company in Phoenix, Ariz. is a supplier for airplane evacuation systems. Material useful in airplane evacuation systems is characterized as follows: “a urethane-coated nylon that is sprayed with gray aluminized paint which protects the slide from fire that is nearby by reflecting heat for at least 90 seconds of the slide's deployment.” The Goodrich Company also supplies the means for inflating the airplane evacuation system wherein the means includes an initial boost from a canister of compressed gas such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen or the like.
Evacuation slides are also employed as devices for escaping a burning building from an upper floor of the building.
US Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0223656 discloses a self-deploying automatic inflatable fire escape (SAFE) unit wherein the unit represents a reliable means for rapid escape from a burning building when usual exits are dangerous. The Self-deploying Automatic inflatable Fire Escape (SAFE) is a building component containing a compressed and folded slide that is installed into an edifice during construction as an integral part of a window casement or wall, or is retrofitted under a pre-existing window, and is automatically deployed by equipment which detects a dangerous condition, sounds an alarm, notifies emergency organizations by a dial-up, opens an aperture in the wall and extends the slide by opening a valve and releasing compressed gas into an inflatable volume which is distended to become a walled chute to the ground.
US Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0284188 discloses an evacuation slide having lateral ridges. The slide is designed to be mounted proximate a window of a multi-story building. The evacuation slide includes a storage chamber that has substantially disposed therein an inflator and the evacuation slide in its un-deployed condition. The evacuation slide further consists of two main support tubes generally parallel and extending downward with each other when the slide is in its deployed condition. Interposed the main support tubes is a flexible sliding surface. Substantially disposed on the sliding surface is a plurality of speed control ridges that extend upward to control the descent rate of an individual traversing down the evacuation slide.
US Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0115794 discloses an elevated inflatable emergency evacuation slide. The slide includes a flexible slide surface that is supported by longitudinal main support members. Illumination of the slide surface is provided by a plurality of illumination sources that are supported above the upper surface of the main support members on inflatable stanchions that extend upward from the upper surface of the main support members. The plurality of illumination sources may be high efficiency light emitting diodes or other high efficiency light sources. By providing an illumination source that is elevated above the upper surface of the main support members, a greater portion of the slide surface can be illuminated without shadows.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,970 discloses an inflatable evacuation slide with an adjustable decelerator. The inflatable evacuation slide is useful in aircraft, watercraft, buildings, and other structures. The slide includes a first inflatable tubular member, a second inflatable tubular member spaced from the first inflatable tubular member, and a floor extending between the first and second inflatable tubular members. At least one adjustable deceleration tube is connected to the floor. The at least one deceleration tube is adjustable in height in response to the distance between the exit opening and ground. With this arrangement, the rate of descent of an evacuee descending the evacuation slide can be regulated based on the height of the exit opening.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,491 discloses an inflatable slide for attachment to a house window wherein the slide includes an elongated self-inflating slide portion having an upper end, an enlarged lower end, and an intermediate extent there-between. The slide portion further includes a pair of opposed raised side portions extending a length thereof with a generally planar central sliding portion disposed there-between. The upper end is secured to an outside of a house immediately below a window of the house whereby an unobstructed space exists between the window and a ground surface there-below. The slide portion has a length greater than a length between the window and the ground surface whereby the enlarged lower end rests on the ground surface creating an obtuse angle with respect to the slide portion. A safety system is coupled with respect to the slide portion. The safety system prevents a user from falling off the slide portion during use.
None of the above-referenced patents and patent applications, taken either individually or in combination, serve to anticipate the invention as presently disclosed and claimed.